1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a lever type connector arranged to couple a set of connector parts to be fitted to each other, through a lever member journalled in either of said connector parts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, for example, in the case where a multi-polar connector having more than twenty poles, etc. is to be connected, since a large coupling force is required, there has been provided a lever type connector arranged to facilitate the connection by applying a comparatively small force through employment of a lever member utilizing the principle of a lever.
For the lever type connector as referred to above, there is available an arrangement, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 in which a lever member 3 is pivotally journalled through support shafts 4 provided on outer walls of one connector part 1 of a set of connector parts 1 and 2, while guide pins 5 are provided to project outwardly from the other connector part 2 for engagement with guide recesses 3a formed on said lever member 3, whereby, based on the pivotal operation of said lever member 3, the other connector part 2 is displaced in a direction for fitting or disengagement via the guide recesses 3a through guide pins 5.
In the known lever type connector as described above, since the fitting is effected by one hand, it becomes indispensable to temporarily hold or stop the set of connector parts in position, and therefore, it has been a practice to provisionally hold them by inserting the guide pins 5 of the connector part 2 in the starting ends of the guide recesses 3a of the lever member 3.
According to the conventional lever type connector of the above described kind, as shown in FIG. 6(A), a shallow insertion groove 3b is provided between the starting end and outer end face of each of the guide recesses 3a for the lever member 3, and as illustrated in FIG. 6(B), when the guide pins 5 of the other connector part 2 are inserted into said insertion grooves 3b, the guide pins 5 are engaged with the starting ends of the guide recesses 3a while the lever member 3 being depressed for expansion outwardly, by which a temporary stopping arrangement of a so-called forced insertion type is adopted.
In the lever type connector in general, a large force is applied from the guide recesses 3a of the lever member 3 to the guide pins 5 of the other connector part 2 when the set of connector parts 1 and 2 are to be fitted to each other, and therefore, it is necessary to set the length for engagement between the guide pins 5 and the guide recesses 3a of the lever member 3 to be long. Since the guide pins 5 tend to be long by the above arrangement, there are problems that such guide pins 5 are difficult to be led into the starting ends of the guide recesses 3a of the lever member 3, while on the contrary, they are not easily disengaged from the starting ends of said guide recesses 3a when the set of connector parts 1 and 2 are to be disengaged from each other, and thus, much labor is required for the fitting and disengagement of the connector parts, with consequent increase of time required therefor.
Furthermore, in order to provide the temporary stopping mechanism as described above, it is necessary to increase the width of the lever member in a lateral direction by a length L as shown in FIG. 6(B), and thus, the size of the connector is undesirably increased by a width of 2.times.L at both sides of the connector.